Welcome to The Post Church Files
Hey there, and welcome to The Post Church Files.
I'm Sam - I am wife to Chrissy and fur-mama to Naya (photo below), therapist, queer woman, podcaster (Beyond The Surface), cult nerd, and someone who knows all too well what it’s like to lose your entire worldview and identity once rooted in faith.
This space is for the stories we were never allowed to tell, the questions we were shamed for asking, and the messy, beautiful work of unlearning, healing, and rebuilding.
Whether you're freshly deconstructed, quietly unraveling, or ten years out and still flinching at Hillsong music in reels on IG - you're not alone here.
This isn’t a place for silver linings or spiritual bypassing. It’s a place for real talk.
For rage and grief and glitter. For looking at purity culture, power, patriarchy, and the churches we thought would keep us safe and naming what really went down.
It’s also for the queers, the questioners, the formerly “submissive” wives, the once-called prophets, the ones who were told they were rebellious, deceived, or just a bit too much. (Spoiler: you weren’t.)
What you’ll find here
This is a queer-led, trauma-informed, no-BS corner of the internet where we:
Tell the truth about the impact of religious trauma (even the parts that still feel messy)
Explore what it means to belong after belief and being post church
Call out coercion, control, and culty crap
Honour the grief that comes with leaving
Reclaim joy, agency, sexuality, and self — in all their glittery, complex glory
I write with warmth, sarcasm, and swears (when necessary). I don’t pretend to have it all figured out. But I do know what it’s like to lose everything you were told mattered and to slowly rebuild something of your own.
What to expect
You’ll get regular posts (usually weekly or fortnightly, depending on life and energy), covering:
Reflections on life after religion; a mix of personal and professional lenses
Deep dives into cults, their dynamics and the sneaky ways they show up
Notes on queerness, embodiment, sex, grief, and joy
Stories (mine, and sometimes others) about what it means to rebuild from scratch
Resources, tools, and the occasional rage-fuelled rant
If you’ve ever been told you were “too much,” “led astray,” or “backsliding”, I’m glad you’re here - you’re my kind of people.
Unpacking the weird, the wounding, and the WTF of post-church life.
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